1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electrical equipment and, more particularly, is concerned with a four-sided ground contact assembly for use in an electrical receptacle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, some electrical receptacles manufactured and marketed by Hubbell Incorporated of Orange, Conn., the assignee of the subject application, have employed a receptacle body with plug terminal contact receiving openings formed on its front side, a base body which mates with the receptacle body, a plurality of contact terminal assemblies fitted with cavities in the receptacle and base bodies, and an U-shaped mounting bridge provided with a base portion positioned adjacent a rear face of the base body and a pair of opposite leg portions extending forwardly from opposite ends of the base portion along opposite ends of the base and receptacle bodies, securing the receptacle and base bodies together in a mated relationship and capturing the contact terminal assemblies therein. The mounting bridge also has mounting tabs attached to the opposite leg portions and extending outwardly therefrom in opposite directions with holes on the mounting tabs for fastening the electrical receptacle to an external structure, such as a building wall, by the use of screws inserted through the holes and threaded into the structure.
While the above-described electrical receptacle has functioned satisfactorily under the range of conditions for which it was designed, as with any product certain drawbacks have been noted from time to time. One drawback particularly concerns the ground contacts provided on the mounting bridge. The ground contacts are formed by a pair of opposing beams so as to provide electrical contact with a ground pin on only two sides thereof. The opposing beams thus fail to fully securely capture the ground pin allowing it to work laterally in either direction and thereby reduce the effectiveness of the electrical connection therebetween.
Representative examples of prior art contact assemblies are found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,675,527 to Hartranft, U.S. Pat. No. 3,029,405 to Buchanan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,694,790 to Martin, U.S. Pat. No. 3,860,319 to Slater, U.S. Pat. No. 4,019,797 to Praml, U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,638 to Tansi, U.S. Pat. No. 4,271,337 to Barkas, U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,605 to Hoffman, U.S. Pat. No. 5,266,039 to Boyer et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,584,714 to Karst et al. However, none of these prior art patents appear to teach a contact assembly specifically applicable for overcoming the above-noted drawback.
Consequently, the inventors herein have perceived a need to provide further innovations which will overcome the above noted drawback.